Star Citizen funding passes $23 million

Star Citizen, the upcoming PC space simulator from Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts and Cloud Imperium Games, has surpassed $23 million in funding, up from $21 million earlier this month. Star Citizen is the most crowdfunded project of any kind in history.

At press time, funding stands at $23,069,614 from 277,643 total backers.

"We are in uncharted waters here; the community is allowing us to do something truly new, for which you have my eternal gratitude," Roberts said in a statement.

Now that funding has reached $23 million,the Xi'an Scout ship is unlocked.

"The goal here isn’t simply to add an extra ship to the game, but to add a new type of ship which can be expanded upon as we go," Roberts said.

Those who have backed Star Citizen so far will receive a mode of the Khartu for their hangar, though it won't be delivered immediately, Roberts said.

Should funding reach $25 million, an "enhanced alpha" for Star Citizen will be offered, Roberts revealed. He explained that if funding reaches this level, the studio will be able to invest in a "wider infrastructure" for early testing.

In addition, reaching this goal will allow Cloud Imperium Games to increase the number of remaining alpha slots, though specific figures were not provided.

Star Citizen has been in development at Cloud Imperium Games for more than a year. The game itself centres on a storyline that is set in a persistent online universe. Last week, Cloud Imperium Games announced a modding competition for the game.

Roberts has said that Star Citizen will fuse elements of his previous games, Wing Commander and Freelancer. Support for the virtual-reality headset Oculus Rift is planned.

Star Citizen is expected to be released in late 2014.